This rainbow will be before Him forever and ever; he will delight in his covenant; it will never repent him that he saved sinners; with complacency will he behold the glorified spirits of his saints, who will be enjoying more largely than ever they had done before, the distinguishing favors of the covenant of grace: being made thus accepted in the Beloved, he will bless them with the smile of approbation, and the lifting up the light of his countenance. Finally,

V. Are we informed that the rainbow was in sight like unto an emerald, green, beautiful, and durable? How delightful to contemplate and enjoy the blessings of the covenant of grace! it is always new and lasting as the throne which it surrounds.

An emerald is a precious stone, next in hardness to the ruby, and its green color much refreshes and strengthens the sight. The rainbow of the new covenant then is like unto an emerald.

What beauties meet in

What beauties meet in it! what order

how admirable to consider its nature and institution! and is it not like that faith which apprehends it? like the promises with which it is fraught, exceedingly precious? David of old could testify its value to his mind amidst domestic trials, saying, "Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.'

This covenant may animate us in the greatest depressions; it may cast a lustre upon the dark dispensations of providence, because it teaches us that they will all end well: a knowledge of an interest in it disarms death of its terrors, yea, bids him lay our ruins in the grave; seeing

that death and hell combined cannot interrupt the repose of a saint in the bosom of his covenant God. No emerald is so beautiful, so precious, or refreshing, as this rainbow; this covenant claims the last accents of our poor faltering tongues, and will employ the first notes of our celestial harmony.

It is also more durable than an emerald: hard and lasting as precious stones may appear, they are mouldering dust and perishing atoms when compared with the designs. of God. This is styled an everlasting covenant; it endures as long as its Author; the blessings of it are enjoyed through the unnumbered ages of eternity; it was first entered into never to be broken, and it will remain immutable. This rainbow will surround the throne of God, as long as God will have a throne for it to surround; for, "Hath he spoken and will he not do it; hath he commanded, and shall it not stand fast ?"

"My God, the covenant of thy love

Abides forever sure;

And in its matchless grace I find
My happiness secure."

"The Lord loveth judgment, hates robbery for burntofferings, will direct our work in truth, and has made an everlasting covenant with us: so that all that see us shall take knowledge of us, that we are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.”

By way of inference—

Let believers be always mindful of this covenant. Since God has done so much for you, can you let his favors be buried in unthankfulness, and die without praise? Shall it be said of you, "They remembered not his holy cove

nant ?" Shall this bright rainbow display its beauties all in vain for you? O! let it be the ground of your triumph, the foundation of your prayers for yourselves and others, and let it always influence you to be joining yourself to the Lord in perpetual acts of self-dedication, in an everlasting covenant that shall never be forgotten: nor be discouraged that you are at present perplexed with trials and difficulties; but evermore boast that the rainbow still is nigh, and that it as much secures your admission into heaven, as it prevents any storms or deluges there. This covenant is a proper subject for investigation; in it lies a mine for you to dig in; it contains pearls of great price, such as will well repay your labor, and delight your soul. View yourselves as redeemed by the blood of the covenant, and rejoice that you shall admire it forever and ever.

The sinner should think of this subject with the greatest awe; for God says to him, "What hast thou to do that thou shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth?" Not interested in it, you cannot share its blessings.

This subject points out the necessity of self-examination. Shall we ever behold the glory of this rainbow? Be ever enclosed in it? If it be the case,

"Then will he pour salvation down,

And we shall render praise;

We, the dear people of his love,

And he our God of grace."

SERMON XI.

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION.

"And he shall bear the glory."-ZECHARIAH 6: 13.

Or whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself or of some other man? It is spoken, brethren, of Him who is clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and whose name is called the Word of God. Whilst the second temple was erecting, the voice of the prophet Zechariah was directed by the Spirit's inspiration to that glorious building which this but prefigured. Divinely directed, he adorned Joshua with crowns of silver and gold, and was commanded to behold him as a type of the man whose name is "The Branch," who was to grow up out of his place, and who alone was appointed, and about to build the temple of the Lord, and who is well described in the words I have read you as a text, as having all possible power, for "He shall bear the glory."

These words intimate, that all the honor of the erection, preservation, and completion of the spiritual temple, properly and solely belongs to Jesus: they show us that the whole glory of our salvation, from first to last, must be ascribed to him; and they lead us to view him as having on his head many crowns. God forbid that this should be an unprofitable subject for our meditation at this time.

We may remark then, that all blessing, and glory, and might, dominion, and power, must be ascribed to Christ, in opposition to the idea of any praise belonging to man: since his hands laid the foundation, and raised the superstructure of this edifice, the honor belongs not unto us, not unto us, but unto his venerable and adored name. Neither Zerubbabel nor Joshua, were to be looked upon as the prime causes of the erection of this temple at Jerusalem; for it might well be said of it, "This is the finger of God!" and surely the kingdom of universal nature, the fullness of almighty power, and the whole glory of our salvation, must alone be ascribed to the man whose name is "The Branch." Indeed no others could bear the glory but himself; it would be a weight too heavy for them, and a burden intolerable to sustain; but "the government shall be upon his shoulders:" since "of him, and through him, and to him, are all things; to him be glory for ever and ever."

Permit me, then, to call your attention to the different ways in which Jesus is glorified, on account of his mediatorial work; and to view him as receiving abundant honor from both the other divine persons in the Trinity;—from the plaudits of the angelic world;-from the ministry of the gospel;-from the conduct of all his saints;—from the dispensations of his own providence;--and from the acclamations of the glorified spirits in heaven.

Our text is true, which declares that Jesus shall bear the glory, because he has borne it, and still is abundantly honored and glorified,

I. By both the other divine persons in the Trinity.

That there are three that bear record in heaven, the